Wage Stabilization Board

The Wage Stabilization Board entered the steel dispute in December 1951, when Harry S. Truman referred the conflict over wages to it. Its recommendation briefly offered a settlement, but the union’s acceptance did not persuade steel companies to agree, and negotiations remained deadlocked as the prospect of a strike grew closer.

The steel dispute

By November 1951, steel production and company profits were at record levels, while steel workers had received no pay raise since 1950. The 650,000-member United Steelworkers of America, led by Phil Murray, sought an increase of 35 cents an hour. Management refused to negotiate, and the union gave notice that it would strike when its contract expired on December 31.

On December 22, Truman sent the dispute to the Wage Stabilization Board. The board recommended an hourly increase of 26 cents, less than the union had requested. The union quickly accepted the recommendation, but the companies denounced it as unreasonable unless they were permitted to increase the price of steel by $12 a ton.

Deadlock and the approaching deadline

Negotiations continued after the board’s recommendation but ended in deadlock. As the April deadline approached, the dispute remained unresolved. The board’s proposed wage increase had secured the union’s agreement, but it had not bridged the companies’ insistence that any settlement be accompanied by a higher steel price.

National stakes

Truman regarded the board’s recommendation as fair and reasonable and saw a settlement as a way to avert a strike with consequences beyond the workplace. He feared that a stoppage would disrupt the flow of munitions to Korea and impede the buildup of North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces in Europe. The episode shows the board’s role in the immediate crisis: its wage proposal became a possible basis for settlement, but the dispute’s unresolved price demand left the threat of a production stoppage in place.